1. Field of the invention
This invention relates to item feeders and more particularly to power drive conveyors having means for arranging articles on the conveyors in a single or multiple row.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Many types of devices and machines have been available to the prior art for conveying a plurality of similarly shaped articles in a single file. Conveyors have been used for orienting and conveying food products such as beans, eggs, canned goods and the like. These conveyors were generally slow and designed for a specific shape of articles and could not be adapted to convey a variety of differentialy shaped articles. A further disadvantage of the conveyors of the prior art was the inability to feed very small items such as nuts, bolts, pills and the like. Accordingly, the art developed vibratory bowl feeders using a vibrating bowl having a substantially helical path whereby the particles were advanced on the helical path as the bowl was vibrated by electromagnetic means. The vibratory bowl feeders provided excellent feeding for small parts but were unsuitable for parts that were easily damaged. The vibratory bowl feeders had the inherent ability to feed a variety of differently shaped parts without change to the bowl assembly.
Accordingly, it is an object of this invention to provide a machine for conveying similarly shaped articles in a single file which is capable of high speed conveyance and separation of fragile articles.
Another object of this invention is to provide a machine for conveying similarly shaped articles in a single file which is less expensive than the conveyors heretofore known to the art and yet which is versatile enough to be adaptable to various shapes of articles.
Another object of this invention is to provide a machine for conveying similarly shaped articles in a single file which subjects the articles to less vibration than the vibratory bowl feeders known to the art.
Another object of this invention is to provide a machine for conveying similarly shaped articles in a single file which is adapted to receive sensing means for sensing the number of articles being conveyed thereby and gate means for diverting articles in excess of a predetermined number of articles.